title: Contagious yawning and the frontal lobe: an fMRI study.
abstract: We conducted a slow event-related fMRI experiment with naïve subjects' passively viewing yawn and various other control videos along with correlative behavioral testing. Specifically associated with the viewing of the contagious yawn was an area of activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest a role for the prefrontal cortex in the processing of contagious yawning, while demonstrating a unique automaticity in the processing of contagious motor programs which take place independently of mirror neuron networks.
authors.affiliation: Human Motor Control Section, Medical Neurology Branch, National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. nahabf@ninds.nih.gov
authors.forename: Fatta B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Nahab
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Ziad S
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Saad
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hallett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015000:Yawning / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen